A SUSPENSION rule tweak ahead of Albert Park could help Dick Johnson Racing’s bid to rebound from a rough start to the 2023 Supercars Championship.
The Ford Mustang homologation team’s struggle was one of the big storylines in Newcastle; Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale leaving the event 16th and 17th in the standings respectively.
Incredibly, DJR was the only one of the 11 teams not to earn a Top 10 Shootout berth across the weekend with either car, having failed to find a setup sweet spot.
At least part of the issue is believed to have centred around the team being unable to adopt its Gen2 setup philosophy to the suspension package on the Gen3 car.
DJR’s Mustangs ran with notably low rear ride heights in Newcastle, where many teams adopted soft rear suspension setups on the challenging street course.
That was in stark contrast to the neutral-to-positive rake setups that DJR has been renowned for running in recent years.
The issue of limited adjustability with the rear suspension of the Gen3 car had been flagged before Newcastle and has resulted in a rule tweak ahead of Albert Park.
Teams are now allowed to install a 15mm spacer between the top clevis of the rear dampers and the chassis, allowing for higher rear ride heights.
“We don’t want Porsche Cup racing where everyone has the same setup,” Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup told V8 Sleuth of the situation during the Newcastle weekend.
“We want cars for drivers and engineers to be able to explore limits and go left, right and all over the place to try and find time.
“I know DJR want to go in a different setup direction and I’m all for allowing them to be able to do that. Let’s open it up.”
DJR is unlikely to be the only team that could benefit, with the change believed to have been widely supported through the category’s Technical Working Group.
“Clearly we were happy with it at Newcastle, we looked alright,” added Triple Eight manager Mark Dutton, whose team designed the bulk of the Gen3 package.
“But it’s apparently put some cars outside their known tuning window. They can’t necessarily call on last year’s data or try to set their car up similar to last year.
“This has just given everyone a bit more scope to tune their car.”
Whether it will have a direct impact on the fast and flowing Albert Park circuit remains unclear.
DJR’s Gen2 Mustangs set the pace at the Melbourne venue last year; scoring three pole positions and two front-row lockouts, before a series of disasters in the races.
“It’s a polar opposite to Newcastle — you couldn’t have a more different type of circuit and requirement from car set-up,” said Davison of the Albert Park circuit.
“We’re still very unfamiliar with the Gen3 package, but it’s a new set of circumstances to try and learn more about the car.
“I like the nature of the circuit. We obviously had some strong results there last year… I can’t wait to see what we can do.”
Albert Park is also set to test the parity between the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, which will undergo Centre of Gravity evaluations after the event.
